DNR web site

[onenationhere]

Does anyone else find the DNR web site hard to navigate,what a mess that web site is.

[ridgewalker]

It is certainly one of the least user friendly sites that I have seen.

[swampbuck]

There is an amazing amount of rescources on the DNR site. It took a while to figure it out, but I have no problem now.

It could be better I guess, But for a government site its not that bad. I.M.O.

[November Sunrise]

Yes, it's very burdensome, and is outdated by several years. Another case of budget issues being a hurdle. As Swampbuck noted though it does have a ton of information.

[QuakrTrakr]

Any government run website is difficult to navigate. Have you ever tried any .gov site? I was just playing around on the Library of Congress' site, what a mess that is!:dizzy:

[dogwhistle]

i use one for the legislature for finding laws and pending bills. pretty straightforward. the dnr's is close to impossible. i think that pretty much reflects the state of affairs at that agency. didnt they just predict a huge budget shortfall a couple years ago and come up $10 million to the good? and they just recently pledged almost half a million to Saginaw for a waterpark. i'm still working on that one?

[swampbuck]

i use one for the legislature for finding laws and pending bills. pretty straightforward. the dnr's is close to impossible. i think that pretty much reflects the state of affairs at that agency. didnt they just predict a huge budget shortfall a couple years ago and come up $10 million to the good? and they just recently pledged almost half a million to Saginaw for a waterpark. i'm still working on that one?

dogwhistle,

meet two of our NRC board members,

Hurley J. Coleman, Jr.

In 1979, he came home to Saginaw and began working for the Saginaw County Parks and Recreation Department as a recreation program coordinator. In 1985, he became the recreation superintendent for the Saginaw Recreation Department.

Darnell Earley

Earley currently is deputy city manager and interim finance director for the city of Saginaw. He previously served as city administrator in Flint from 2001 to 2004, and also served as its acting mayor.

[dogwhistle]

i wasnt aware of that, but cant say i'm surprised. thanks for the information.

one part about the dnr website that i do like is that you can ask them questions by email. if you ask the right ones, you will get some interesting answers.

the dnr recieves 40 million dollars in revenue from hunters. 30 from license fees and 10 from pittman robertson. so, how much do they spend on habitat improvement. A:nothing. they dont even know what it costs per acre to clearcut aspen on a "custom" cutting basis. they just lease out what they can for profit and that is about half as much as needed to maintain the current levels of aspen habitat.

the NRC was formed to protect the DNR from the legistlature. but i'm beginning to think that that, like term limits, is a two edged sword. too much protection and it appears that the NRC is improperly using it's power to spend money.

[QuakrTrakr]

dogwhistle,

meet two of our NRC board members,

Hurley J. Coleman, Jr.

In 1979, he came home to Saginaw and began working for the Saginaw County Parks and Recreation Department as a recreation program coordinator. In 1985, he became the recreation superintendent for the Saginaw Recreation Department.

Darnell Earley

Earley currently is deputy city manager and interim finance director for the city of Saginaw. He previously served as city administrator in Flint from 2001 to 2004, and also served as its acting mayor.

I believe our lovely governor appointed them. :(

[walleye magnet]

It sure is a confusing site. What else would you except from them.

[bradymsu]

Swampbuck, our county, Roscommon, has been the single greatest beneficiary of MNRTF dollars over the past two round of grants. Approving a half million for a waterpark in Saginaw pales in comparison to the double year grant for the new marina on Higgins Lake. To be fair, I think we actually need to spend more MNRTF dollars in urban areas. It's where it has the greatest net social benefit. And Hurley Coleman has actually been a decent member of the NRC. He doesn't have the same type of experience on natural resource issues that Charters or Wheatlake do, but he has an open ear and an open mind.

The other comment made regarding habitat raises a very good point, actually one of the best I've seen on this forum. The MNRTF program is constitutionally limited to acquistion. Yet, local units of government have been complaining for the past decade about the DNR's inability to meet its PILT (Payment in Lieu of Property Taxes) payments to those local governments. This might be a good time to provide voters with an opportunity to amend the MNRTF program to spend half of the funds on continued acquisition and half on habitat improvement including both game habitat and fisheries.

[swampbuck]

Brady,

I understand the need for development in urban areas. I dont understand how a waterpark qualifys for funds from the MNRTF. I could understand a fishing pond, nature area etc. not a swimming pool.

The marina project on the other hand directly benifits the public in the permanent access to Higgins lake, although I think it probably should have waited for better financial times or been financed in a different way. Or preferably been placed on the land that is leased to the church camp on the north side, Whose lease SHOULD NOT have been renewed.

As far as the NRC its good to hear that one of them has a mind, can we get the other six replaced. It is all too apparent that the NRC in many cases are not acting according to there mandate. Many of theyre decisions are clearly influenced by small special interest groups. I understand the reason they are appointed instead of elected, but there needs to be some control or it needs to be scrapped. Also I was shocked when I read theyre introductions, Couldnt we have at least 1 biologist or wildlife professional on there.

[dogwhistle]

Swampbuck, our county, Roscommon, has been the single greatest beneficiary of MNRTF dollars over the past two round of grants. Approving a half million for a waterpark in Saginaw pales in comparison to the double year grant for the new marina on Higgins Lake. To be fair, I think we actually need to spend more MNRTF dollars in urban areas. It's where it has the greatest net social benefit. And Hurley Coleman has actually been a decent member of the NRC. He doesn't have the same type of experience on natural resource issues that Charters or Wheatlake do, but he has an open ear and an open mind.

The other comment made regarding habitat raises a very good point, actually one of the best I've seen on this forum. The MNRTF program is constitutionally limited to acquistion. Yet, local units of government have been complaining for the past decade about the DNR's inability to meet its PILT (Payment in Lieu of Property Taxes) payments to those local governments. This might be a good time to provide voters with an opportunity to amend the MNRTF program to spend half of the funds on continued acquisition and half on habitat improvement including both game habitat and fisheries.


we have 3.9 million acres of State Forest and another 2 million acres of commercial forest under "lease". the mission and duty of the DNR is to maintain and improve those lands. hunters are the single largest contributor of DNR revenue. i had have it on good authority, a former dnr budget employee, that a good share of our hunter funds are being siphoned off for other projects.

the payments in lieu of taxes are an obligation and should be paid before grants to waterparks or marinas. the commercial forest program is an excellent and elegant program, and not reimbursing counties is a good way to destroy it. and rougly another 2 milliion would provide enough money to maintain our habitat at it's currrent level. that is also a number one priorty.

the dnr is the dept of Natural resources. not the dept of Urban resources. municipalities and countes can raise taxes or bonds for their projects. but we dont complain and the organizations that represent us dont complain, so it would seem that we have become a bank for projects that have nothing to do with our mission.

[William H Bonney]

Brady,

I understand the need for development in urban areas. I dont understand how a waterpark qualifys for funds from the MNRTF. I could understand a fishing pond, nature area etc. not a swimming pool.

,

:lol: Come down to my city and have a look at the purple dinosaur playscape they put in...... there's one big slide, so 3 of us can all go down together..:lol:

As for the website,,, yes, it's a pain in the ars. So is the Library of Congress's.